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Sewaholic Granville in Chambray

I’ve never really been a huge fan of blouses (on me). But I love them on other people. A few months ago, I became obsessed with the Grainline Archer blouse and all the super cool versions popping up in the blogosphere. Particularly my favourite “cool mom” Vivat Veritas, and her stellar versions here, here and here.

I was seriously *this close* to buying the Grainline Archer, when I turned to the Sewaholic Granville blouse after getting an email notification from the company about a sale on their patterns to celebrate their anniversary. I browsed other sewists’ versions online and realized that I preferred the princess seams on the back of the Granville to get a more curve-hugging fit. Plus I’m all about supporting local businesses. Sewaholic is based out of Vancouver BC, and I live in a suburb of Vancouver…

I like Sewaholic’s patterns, but since they are made to fit pear-shaped women, I need to do some re-drafting. I have the hips of a 12 year old boy… My bust and waist measurements put me at a size 8 but then I graded down to a 2 for the hips. I’m pretty sure this was the same adjustments I made for my Minoru jacket. Another thing that I appreciate about Sewaholic patterns is that they seem to fit folks with long arms and torsos. So I don’t need to add my usual 2″ length in the waist. Which is nice.

Chambray is such a lovely lightweight fabric and a total classic, despite being super “in” at the moment. I ordered this gorgeous chambray fabric online. I find the colour tricky to photograph. It’s more of a grey than a blue. But that’s ok, it still goes with nearly everything in my wardrobe. This fabric is by Robert Kaufman, and I want to order their products forever and ever amen! It’s so soft and comfortable to wear, yet is not see-through. Which is great for hot summer weather. All of the buttons were from my stash. I was hoarding the clear glass-like buttons for awhile now. I think I picked them up at Dressew in downtown Vancouver a couple of years ago. They’re kind of fancy, but don’t compete with the busy fabrics of the blouse.

I love the show Modern Family, and was inspired by the character Cam Tucker for this blouse. He is always so dapper and wears bespoke men’s shirts with contrasting collar stands, cuffs, and facings. This shirt’s for you, Cam!

I copied some extra details from some of my favourite RTW blouses. I love shoulder epaulets, so I drafted my own.

This shirt is ahhhhmazing! I couldn’t wait to finish it, so I wore it to work before adding the cuff buttons. Seriously you guys, I haaaaaaate hand sewing…. And this shirt has like 16 buttons on it!!! I was like Paul Rudd in Wet Hot American Summer.

But I prevailed! I have worn it several times since finally finishing it and got lots of compliments. It’s perfect for work, but totally works for casual days too. The only downside is that the fabric is a bit delicate on the wrong side and the threads tend to pull loose. I need to make sure to put it inside a lingerie bag. Because we all know I won’t be hand-washing ANYTHING anytime soon!

Yes this was my first experience sewing with it. It was like a dream. I think since this particular fabric is so lightweight it wouldn’t be good for anything structured because it won’t hold a pleat very well…